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From: jonw@tekmdp.UUCP (Jonathan White)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: More evidence against the Book of Mormon
Message-ID: <2164@tekmdp.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 26-Aug-83 13:12:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: tekmdp.2164
Posted: Fri Aug 26 13:12:07 1983
Date-Received: Mon, 29-Aug-83 00:19:46 EDT
Lines: 101

This is a follow-up to my original "Case against the Book of Mormon".  Once
again, most of the following information comes from "The Kingdom of the Cults"
by Walter Martin.

One of the more obvious problems with believing the whole Mormon theology is
that their founding figure, "the Prophet, Seer and Revelator," Joseph Smith
was a false prophet.  For one thing, he drew heavily upon published articles
in newspapers and magazines.  In fact, one of his famous prophecies concerning
the Civil War was drawn chiefly from material published in New York state at
the time.  Smith declared in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 87:

"...At the rebellion of South Carolina...the Southern States will call on other
nations, even the nation of Great Britain...and then war shall be poured out
upon all nations...And...slaves shall rise against their masters...and the
remnants...shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation."

Well, sure enough, the Civil War did break out some years after Smith's death
in 1844, but neither England nor "all nations" became involved.  The slaves did
not "rise against their masters," and the "remnants" (who were the Indians)
were themselves vexed by the Gentiles.

Smith also blew it when he prophesied in Doctrine and Covenants that he would
possess the house he built at Nauvoo "for ever and ever" (Section 124, verses
22, 23, and 59).  The house was destroyed after Smith's death, and the Mormons
moved on to Utah.

Oliver Cowdery relates a few of Smith's less-accurate predictions in Cowdery's
"Defense in a Rehearsal of My Grounds for Separating Myself from the Latter 
Day Saints":

"I regard his [Smith's] frequent prediction that he himself shall tarry on 
earth till Christ shall come in glory, and that neither the rage of devils or 
the malice of men shall ever cause him to fall by the hand of his enemies 
until he has seen Christ in the flesh at his final coming, as little short of 
a piece of blasphemy; and it may be classed with that revelation that some 
among you remember which sent Bro. Page and me so unwisely to...Toronto with a
prediction from the Lord by Urim and Thummim [the magic stones -JW] that we 
would find there a man anxious to buy the First Elder's copyright.  I well 
remember we did not find him, and had to return surprised and disappointed."

I have cited only a few cases, but entire books have been written on this very
subject.  "The Testing of Joseph Smith Jr -- Was He a Prophet?" by James D.
Bales, is a good example.

Another interesting proof that the Book of Mormon is fraudulent is found in
an extensive claim in Mormon literature -- namely, that the American Indians
are descendants of the Lamanites (a Semitic race of Jewish origin).  If it can
be shown that the Indian could not possibly be of Semitic extraction, the
entire story of Nephi and his trip to America in 600 B.C. would be proven
false.  And the fact is, according to anthropologists and geneticists, such as
W.C. Boyd and Bentley Glass, the American Indian is not of Semitic extraction
but has the phenotypical characteristic of a Mongoloid.

Another thing that is now abundantly clear, is that the author of the Book of 
Mormon displayed a woeful lack of knowledge of world history and the history 
of the Jewish people.  For example, the Jaredites enjoyed glass windows in 
their barges that crossed the ocean, and Nephi knew the use of steel and of a 
compass despite the fact that none of these things had yet been invented.  
(See 1 Nephi 4:9.)

Now for a few embarrassing contradictions found in Mormon literature.  Joseph
Smith sought to justify his womanizing ways by claiming that polygamy was
decreed by divine revelation.  In Doctrines and Covenants he wrote about some
of the characters described in Genesis:

"God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife.  And why did
she do it?  Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people...
Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham; enter ye into my law and ye
shall be saved."  (Section 132, Verses 34 and 32.)

The Book of Mormon, on the other hand, categorically states:

"Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall not any man
among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; for I,
the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women."  (Jacob 2:26-28.)

There is also an interesting discrepancy between two of the books within the
Book of Mormon.  In Moses 2:1, it is stated:

"I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I
created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth
upon which thou standest."

The Book of Abraham, on the other hand, repudiates this monotheistic view
by stating:

"And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And THEY went down at the beginning,
and THEY, that is the GODS, organized and formed the heavens and the earth."
(Abraham 4:1.)

Maybe one of the Mormons out there can tell us which account of the creation
is correct.

Now that I have presented sufficient proof that the Book of Mormon could not
possibly be divinely inspired, in a future article I will outline what I
consider to be the most plausible theory that explains where the Book of 
Moromon really came from.  Stay tuned.

						Jon White
						Tektronix
						Aloha, Ore